SCARBOROUGH – Saying there were many questions that needed answering before they would be comfortable inking an initial agreement to provide town land for a proposed new ice rink, Scarborough town councilors have scheduled a workshop to discuss the project more thoroughly.

The workshop is set for Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall with a vote on a memorandum of understanding with the group, Friends of Scarborough Hockey, Inc., planned for Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.

During its meeting on Aug. 20 a majority of the Town Council said they are intrigued by the idea of a 630-seat, $5.5 million ice arena being built, but they also said there are many issues that need examination before they could sign off on allowing use of town land for the facility.

Before the meeting Council Chairman Richard Sullivan said he believes there is a need for more ice in the Scarborough region, but during the meeting he also said the friends group “still has a huge mountain to climb” to get to the point where the facility could become a reality, which is why he suggested the workshop.

The Friends of Scarborough Hockey is made up of Chuck Bradish, Lee Allen, Jeff Murray, Mark Maroon, Bob Jacques and Chelsie Woods. Under its initial business plan, the group said it hoped to get the proposed 37,000-square-foot ice arena built and open by October of next year.

In making a presentation before the Town Council last week, Murray said the friends group has received verbal support from the school departments in both South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, who are also finding it difficult to schedule practice and games at the available local ice rinks, the closest of which are in Saco and Biddeford.

“Scarborough is not the only community that’s negatively impacted by the available ice time,” he said, which is why the friends group believes the ice arena is a “viable project.”

The Friends of Scarborough Hockey have committed to raising the funds needed to build the facility and operate the ice arena as a nonprofit, so there would be no impact on taxpayers.

Under the proposed memorandum of understanding, the friends group would have a long-term, low-rent lease with the town for use of a nearly 1-acre lot on town-owned property adjacent to the high school. The ice arena would have access off Route 114 and, if approved, would be built on land now used for faculty parking.

In his presentation to the Town Council last week, Murray said there are three key benefits from the proposed ice arena – improved student access to ice time and the teams from Scarborough having a “home rink,” community access and “a lot of economic opportunity” for local businesses in Oak Hill.

Martin Tripp was the only person who spoke against the project last week. However, prior to the meeting, the Town Council did receive written objections to the proposed ice arena from the group Scarborough Maine Advocates for Reasonable Taxes.

The tax advocacy group argued that the town should not provide town-owned land at less than full market value to any private group, even though the ice rink would be open for community uses, as well.

During the council discussion, Councilor Jessica Holbrook questioned whether an ice arena was “the highest and best use of the available space on the town campus.”

She and other councilors also said if such a facility were allowed on town land, they would prefer to see it have multiple uses and not be solely an ice rink with associated locker rooms.

Councilor Bill Donovan called the ice arena proposal “a big idea” and said, “it’s our responsibility to look hard at all the issues. There are a lot of other uses and activities that have equally strong appeal.”

Donovan added, “We are the custodians of the municipal campus so we need to approach this with a great deal of caution. There’s still a lot of hard work required.”

And Councilor Jean Marie Caterina said that although the ice arena is a “great concept” she would prefer to see a multipurpose building, and she also did not like the proposed location in an already congested Oak Hill.